Abstract

Approximately 85,000 part-time teaching staff working in further education (FE) and adult and community learning (ACL) are often seen as ‘a problem’. The intrinsic ‘part-timeness’ of these staff tends to marginalise them: they remain under-recognised and largely unsupported. Yet this picture is over-simplified. This article examines how part-time staff make creative use of professional autonomy and agency to mitigate problematic ‘casual employment’ conditions, reporting on results from Learning and Skills Development Agency-sponsored research (2002–2006) with 700 part-time staff in the learning and skills sector. The question of agency was reported as a key factor in part-time employment. Change is necessary for the professional agency of part-timers to be harnessed as the sector responds to ambitious sectoral ‘improvement’ agendas following the Foster Report and FE White Paper. Enhanced professionalisation for part-time staff needs greater recognition and inclusion in change agendas.

Item Type:

Article

Additional Information:

[1] First published online: 20 May 2008.
[2] Published in print: March 2008.
[3] Published as: Research in Post-Compulsory Education, (2008), Vol. 13 (1), pp. 39-53.
[4] Research in Post-Compulsory Education is sponsored by the Further Education Research Association (FERA).